5 Of The Best Kia Models For Off-Roading

If our list of the best off-road vehicles on offer in 2025 is any indication, off-roading has been a pretty major focus for automakers over the last few years. Most of them have rough-and-ready versions of many of their vehicles, including Honda's newest Passport Trailsport as well as Subaru vehicles sporting its Wilderness trim level. Korean carmaker Kia is included in this company, as evidenced by its different Telluride variants. No matter what marque you are looking at, off-road versions of these vehicles usually include some extra underbody protection, a higher lift than regular versions, and an all-wheel drive system tuned for things like snow, mud, and sand. Some makes and models go even further with it, like the Jeeps and Ford Broncos of the world, but most off-road-focused trims are essentially the same. 

Ultimately, this means that if you like to go off the beaten trail and also like what Kia is doing these days, you do have a few options open to you. It's true that Kia doesn't have the equipment for hardcore off-roading like true four-wheel drive (not to be confused for all-wheel-drive), but the automaker offers more than enough sauce to get you onto a beach or to your campsite in most circumstances. 

While Kia might be making a pickup truck for the U.S. market eventually, until that happens, your best bet is to get an SUV: None of Kia's sedans are built for off-roading in mind. That leaves a pretty short list of potential candidates. Since the brand uses the same names for its off-road-focused trims, it's pretty easy to figure out which models to look for. 

The Kia Seltos is in a fun spot in the automaker's lineup. It currently occupies the space that the Kia Sportage used to until it was stretched out to be closer to a midsize SUV. The Seltos doesn't have class-leading cargo space or anything like that, but what it does have is a cheap price tag, all-wheel drive, and plenty of amenities for everyday use. This is the only SUV on the list today that doesn't include an X-Line or X-Pro trim (the two levels that Kia uses for its off-road efforts), but the SUV does have some helpful features borrowed from those trim levels. 

To start, every model is available with all-wheel drive, and the top SX trim is available with torque vectoring. This is an important distinction for this topic. The torque-vectoring AWD system that Kia uses includes a terrain selector switch, which does include snow, mud, and sand. There is also a center-locking differential, which lets the driver lock in AWD all the time at lower speeds, which is as close to low gearing as a Kia can get. That makes the SX trim the best version of the Seltos if you intend to leave the pavement anytime soon. 

Admittedly, it's a bit of a stretch, as Kia's X-Line and X-Pro trims have additional features. However, the Seltos SX is less expensive than other models with those trims and comes with about half of the amenities of the off-road-focused models, making it a decent budget pick.

The Kia Sportage is the least expensive way to get an off-road trim from Kia. It used to be a much smaller SUV, but it was enlarged quite a bit during its refresh in 2023. It's now on the smaller side for a midsize SUV and large for a small crossover. In any case, along with the refresh, Kia took some extra steps to add some off-road chops to its popular SUV. It is available in Kia's off-roading X-Line and X-Pro trims. 

The devil is in the details with the X-Line trim. While all Sportage models have the option for all-wheel drive, with the X-Line and X-Pro, this comes standard instead. Those are also the only trim levels to get Kia's Terrain Mode selector for things like mud, sand, and snow. The rest of the lineup gets a more basic all-wheel drive system, albeit with Terrain Mode as an optional add-on. In addition, the FWD models of the Sportage have a ground clearance of 7.1 inches, while the AWD models get 8.3, so a slight lift for all X-Line and X-Pro models. Should you opt for the more expensive X-Pro trim, you also get set of all-terrain tires on smaller, matte black 17-inch rims, giving you more tire sidewall to work with. 

For the Sportage, the only downside is its 187-horsepower engine, which will get you to 60 mph eventually. Something a little stronger for the off-road trims would've been nice to have. A hybrid version of the Sportage exists, which is probably a better choice — more on that later.

The Kia Sorento is a pretty decent option for off-roading. The smaller three-row crossover has been in its most recent generation since 2021, and Kia has since added a bunch of stuff to modernize it with some facelifts in 2024 and 2025. Unlike the automaker's smaller crossovers, the Sorento has some decent power in its higher trim levels, sporting an optional 281-horsepower turbo-four that can scoot the Sorento to 60 mph in about six seconds, give or take. It also has a well-equipped interior with plenty of modern tech. 

For off-roading, Kia offers both the X-Line and X-Pro trims on the Sorento. All models in those trims get torque-vectoring all-wheel drive with a center-locking differential as standard, along with Kia's Terrain Mode selector, which is a pretty decent start. There are three X-Line trims to choose from, and the biggest difference between them is the extras rather than any additional off-road chops. The X-Pro adds all-terrain tires with a thicker tire sidewall on 17-inch rims versus the 20-inch rims that come standard on the X-Line trims. All models, even the versions that aren't for off-road, come with 8.2 inches of ground clearance. 

Personally, I think the Sorento is in a pretty good spot in Kia's lineup. You can get the upgraded engine, the special all-wheel drive, and the all-terrain tires, giving the Sorento some power and ability off the beaten path. It won't topple a Wrangler or a Bronco, but Kia did a good job equipping this one. 

The Telluride sits at the top of Kia's lineup in terms of SUV sizes, battling it out with other larger SUVs like the Chevy Traverse, Toyota Grand Highlander, and other three-row crossovers. The automaker did a bang-up job with this one, as it's one of the most established and popular vehicles in Kia's entire lineup. It has plenty of space, a 3.8-liter V6 that made SlashGear's list of the most reliable Kia engines ever built, and a remarkably comfortable interior for a three-row SUV. There honestly isn't much wrong with it, and that's probably one of the reasons why it's so popular. 

As with Kia's other off-road efforts, the Telluride comes in both X-Line and X-Pro variants. It also has more overall trims than any other vehicle we looked at for this article. The results are the same as with Kia's other models: The X-Line comes with AWD as standard with torque vectoring, a Terrain Mode, and a center-locking differential for more control. The X-Pro adds all-terrain tires on smaller rims and, somewhat weirdly, can tow an extra 500 pounds from the other trim levels. All off-road-focused models also get 8.4 inches of ground clearance, up from the 8.0 inches on the standard trims. 

Reviews of its off-road capabilities are mixed. The consensus is that the Telluride can handle moderate off-roading, which is honestly more than expected for a vehicle designed to be a comfortable family hauler on pavement. It won't beat industry leaders in the task, but it's better than what you'd get from a model not built for off-road.

Both the Sorento and the Sportage have hybrid models and, somewhat surprisingly, Kia decided to outfit both with X-Line and X-Pro trim levels, making them at least somewhat off-road capable. There are benefits to going this route. On top of having much better fuel economy, the Kia Sportage especially gets a nice dose of extra power that it definitely needed over its non-hybrid sibling. For reference, the gas-only Sportage gets to 60 mph in about nine seconds versus the plug-in hybrid model, which can do it in about 6.9 seconds. The standard hybrid took a little longer at 7.4 seconds, which still outperformed the gas Sportage.

The bad news is that Kia only offers the X-Line trims on these Sportage hybrids. In addition, the Sorento Hybrid X-Line SX Prestige AWD model is the only one with the center-locking differential. So, while these hybrid models are reasonable alternatives compared to something like the Kia Seltos, the gas-only versions have more options, the benefits of the X-Pro trim, and, for the Sportage at least, the center-locking differential AWD system. That essentially leaves your options limited to the Sorento Hybrid X-Line if you want the best performance in this case.

This isn't terribly surprising. Hybrids aren't typically known for their off-road capabilities, and only a handful of automakers (like Land Rover and Jeep) even make hybrids that have any off-road chops at all. Most of those purpose-built hybrid off-roaders also come with four-wheel drive, which is a step up from AWD for rough terrain.

Kia's off-road efforts are slim pickings, so this list came together surprisingly quickly. There are only a few models that come in X-Line and X-Pro trims, including the Telluride, Sorento, Sportage, Sorento Hybrid, and Sportage Hybrid, and so all of those made the list. These are made with off-roading in mind, and while they aren't as good as a dedicated off-road vehicle would be, they do have features that make them better at the task than Kia's other models. For example, the Kia K5 has AWD in its GT-Line AWD trim. However, that is a basic AWD system without a Terrain Mode, and the car has a scant 5.3 inches of ground clearance. Clearly, that is not a vehicle to take off the beaten path. 

Since the Sportage Hybrid and Sorento Hybrid both only have X-Line trims, it felt apropos to toss them together since they had the same features and both lacked an X-Pro trim level with all-terrain tires. That left one spot on the list that needed to be filled. After going through every different permutation of every vehicle, I settled on the Kia Seltos SX. It was the only trim with a torque-vectoring AWD with a locking center differential, which means it has the same system as all the X-Line models, just without the name. The X-Line has the Terrain Modes, making those models more appropriate off-road choices. However, the Seltos was still included thanks to its good balance of value and amenities.